


I Can't Say Sorry

by butterflybrigade



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 05:23:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12698238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterflybrigade/pseuds/butterflybrigade
Summary: Yami didn't mean to hurt him, but now he is stuck with trying to win Yuugi's trust back. (This summary isn't the best but oh well)





	I Can't Say Sorry

As much as Yuugi tried to hide it, he hated Shadow Games. They made him nervous of the outcomes and the consequences that would befall his opponents. Pharaoh’s pride has been the cause of many disputes because of his inability to deny a card game. Every time a challenge made itself present, Yami was there in a heartbeat. Time and time again the Pharaoh would convince Yuugi that playing a potentially dangerous game was necessary to the situation in order to save their friends. Begrudgingly, Yuugi would comply and take the backseat while watching everything happen. But this time was different.

Yami was going for the kill.

Their current opponent was someone from the Pharaoh’s past, and the person made it clear that they were there to destroy the spirit. The claims he made against Pharaoh suggested that he was the reason Egypt fell. It seemed as though the opponent knew all of the King’s weak spots.

As much as Yami tried to hide behind a persona of confidence, every now and then Yuugi could feel hints of what seemed like insecurity. It was whenever there were mentions of his past or any person that claimed to more than the King did about his life before. If Yami and Yuugi’s souls weren’t connected, Yuugi would have never been able to comprehend what longing and sorrow felt like.

Now he only felt Yami’s rage, and it scared him. The spirit no longer was calculative with his decisions in the game and instead he was hitting their opponent blow after blow with monsters. Yuugi knew that it would only take a few more turns before their opponent wouldn’t be able to recover his life points.

_“Yami, stop!”_ Yuugi pulled the Pharaoh back from laying down his next card. They both stood in the hallway between their soul rooms.

_“What are you doing?!”_ The king of games glowered down to the soft hearted fool.

_“The guy is possessing a kid, we can’t defeat them or they’ll lose both their souls. It’s not worth it!”_ Yuugi pleaded.

_“Let go, Yuugi.”_ He growled, and his voice was so deep that it felt like it shook Yuugi’s heart. He couldn’t allow the Pharaoh to scare him.

_“No!”_ Yuugi tightened his grasp on the King’s shirt. _“I know we have a card in the deck that can neutralize the game. We wouldn’t have to win or lose!”_ Yuugi closed his eyes and was about to take back control of his body when Yami lifted the boy off the ground. Yuugi could only hold onto the arm, his feet dangling off the ground. With utter dismay he saw flames in the Pharaoh’s eyes, just like when the two of them were first joined. Before Yuugi convinced him that hurting people didn’t solve anything.

_“I don’t lose.”_ A light of white fire burned as it blasted Yuugi into his soul room leaving the door locked in its wake.

Yami finished the game, the fiend’s soul torn and scattered to the shadows and the King felt sweet satisfaction. The anger slipped through his fingertips like the sands of Egypt as he regained his cool composure. Tea and Tristan ran to the form of the limp boy who consequentially survived with his soul intact. It was a mere coincidence of his cards that made it possible, but Yami would be sure to take advantage of the fluke and claim it was in his plan to save the boy all along.

Tristan stared at him with the oddest look. It was that of shock and disbelief, which Pharaoh could easily ignore if it weren’t for the fact that fear and disappointment resided there, too. The King of games refused to acknowledge any of the group as he walked past them to have some space. It was awkward to him since Yuugi had always taken back his body by now.

The King huffed. Yuugi must still be mad with him and punished him by forcing contact with the aftermath. Yami rolled his eyes. Funny, he didn’t know that anger was an emotion Yuugi ever had.

Yami had made it all the way back to the trailer and Yuugi had still not made a word. By this point, the Pharaoh was just fed up with the doe eyed child’s pettiness. He closed his eyes to return to the entrance of both of their soul rooms. Yami was irritated by the silent treatment.

He didn’t expect to arrive to the hallway to see scorch marks. The king’s brow furrowed in confusion, but relaxed. It was only from the light, that was all. He went to the door and called out the boy’s name while he knocked. Yami went to the door knob to open it but it had been locked. He sighed, remembering that he sealed it shut to keep Yuugi from interfering. He touched the key hole and it unlocked on demand.

The Pharaoh opened the door to reveal that his other half’s room was in chaotic disarray. After being distracted by the miscellaneous toys and games askew as well as the furniture almost completely torn apart, the King’s eyes rested upon a small figure leaning against the wall. Yami recognized the violet and gold spiky hair and ran to the boy on the floor.

_“Yuugi!”_ the Pharaoh reached to hold the boy’s face in his hands to wake him up. Yami repeated his name as he gently shook the slumped form. Soon enough, those violet eyes fluttered open but remained dazed and unfocused. _“Yuugi…”_ the Pharaoh all but whispered his name as if to anchor the boy back. Finally, Yugi met glances and his confusion turned into panic, making him weakly try to break from Yami’s hold.

The Pharaoh didn’t let Yuugi fall to the ground when he tried to squirm away. Yami scooped his arms around the boy’s chest and effortlessly brought him back into Yami’s lap. He didn’t understand why Yuugi was so startled. After a few moments, he stopped struggling and wilted into the grasp as tears began to well in his eyes.

_“How could you?”_ the boy sniffled. He was beaten and battered in a way that reminded Yami of when the bullies tormented the child. How did that happen? The glow of light that Yuugi usually gave off was dimmed and blinking like a candle fighting for a few more moments before being burnt out. Realization fell upon the King with guilt like a cape.

_“Yuugi, it wasn’t my intention to…”_ the King tripped over his words in complete contrast than what he was used to. Did he do this? Was he responsible for Yuugi being in such a weakened state? Perhaps the King could make it better with words of consolation. _“The boy who was possessed is fine.”_ His Yuugi remained inaudible as his tears continued to fall. The King, who was always so sure of himself, didn’t know what to do _. “You can take over now. Tea, Tristan, and Joey are all safe.”_ The King pulled Yuugi closer so that he could show his sincerity.  

Yuugi wiped his tears, and with a shaking hand he reached for the Millenium Puzzle that hung from Yami’s neck. He only needed to touch it in order to take back control. His hand fell from exhaustion of the simple movements. Yami realized the damage he had done. Yuugi wasn’t strong enough to take control. The King lifted the boy from the ground and carried him to the hallway. The boy’s bed was too broken to lay him in his soul room, so Yami took him to his. Instead of a bed, the King put the boy in his sarcophagus where he could regain his strength. The boy was already unconscious by the time he set him down.

_“Just rest, Yuugi. I can… I will be in control until you wake up.”_

Yami shut the lid and the shadows of self-loathing and guilt followed him out the door.

              

 

*~*~*~*

 

Yuugi felt weightless but surrounded by protection when he came to. He opened his eyes expecting to see his baby blue room but was met with darkness instead. He jolted awake, not knowing where he was. Any semblance of warmth was gone as he gathered he was in a closed box. What felt like a cocoon of safety now felt like vice grip.

With effort, he finally moved the lid far enough so that he could wiggle his small frame out. He took deep breaths before turning around to see that he had been sealed in a sarcophagus. Confusion settled in. His soul room didn’t have that. He lifted his head to see that he was surrounded by stairs leading in all directions like a maze.

This was the Pharaoh’s soul room.

At one point it had been a dream of Yuugi’s that Pharaoh would let him in the room as a way to open up, but now it felt like a nightmare that trapped him inside. The chill of the chamber caused Yuugi to shiver as he looked around for an exit. Surely there had to be a door that could lead him back to the comfort of his own soul room. There it was soft and light, but here it was intense and dark with shadows that held like a stain.

Yuugi scrambled to find a way out. Each path he took led nowhere, the twists and turns became hypnotic as he carried on. Without seeing any sort of escape, Yuugi tried to retrace his steps to find the sarcophagus but it was as if the cobble stone stair cases hid it from reach. It was a daunting game that was cornering him with every move he made. His heart raced at the constriction of the darkness.

A hand grasped Yuugi’s shoulder and he nearly yelped at the contact. He expected to face a horrendous monster, something like he would have in his card deck, but he turned around to find a figure who mimicked his mirror. Tears welled in his eyes. That “figure” may as well have been a monster for all Yuugi cared.

“Let go of me!” Yuugi twisted against the grasp and found himself back against one of the walls.

“Yuugi, please. I can explain.” The Pharaoh loomed over him. Perhaps Yuugi would have been more inclined to recognize the King’s concerned tone if it were not for the memories of being blasted into soul room confinement.

“Don’t come any closer!” Yuugi’s breathing became erratic and trembling. Pushing the Pharaoh away felt like it would create distance between them, but on contrary, another wall burst from the ground preventing another exit Yuugi could have taken to escape. The walls were closing in on him, every move he tried to make only crowded him in closer to the stone.

“Enough.”

Arms wrapped around Yuugi and he could hear the shuffle and grind of cobblestone shifting away from them. Tears continued to trail down Yuugi’s face.

“You tried to kill that guy!” Yuugi pushed the Pharaoh, but with no intention to run away this time.

“The boy was released from the possession. He is fine.” Yami covered with his monotonous tone.

“Don’t lie to me.” Yuugi tried to hold strong, but instead he trembled into himself. The memory of being forced to relinquish control of his own body made tears flow silently. He tried to cover them with his hand, but he always knew he could not hide anything from the King. “You locked me away… I didn’t think you could do that…” the boy sniffled.

Yami could feel the pain in his heart to see the shattered Yuugi before him. The King had no words that could express the regret he had for hurting the boy. Yami stepped forward and delicately embraced the boy in his arms. Yuugi was stiff at first but Yami moved slow. He threaded his fingers through Yuugi’s hair and brushed it away from his tears. The King took his time like a sculptor molding a piece of art. Yami placed a kiss on Yuugi’s brow while holding his head in his hands. His lips touched the boy’s temples and cheeks, with every movement becoming more pliant in his grasp.

Yuugi’s breathing slowed, the tears stopped, and by now he was exhausted from his emotions. He didn’t stop Yami from kissing his lips. He wanted to hold onto his anger, but it was difficult to do so when being distracted by the tender affection. The King continued trailing his lips to Yuugi’s neck.

“It was a mistake.” Yami’s voice a whisper in the cavern which only Yuugi could hear. “I won’t do it again.” The softness in the King’s voice was like nothing Yuugi had ever heard of before. The boy took a breath, allowing Yami’s hands to caress him as if he would break at any moment.

“Do you promise?” Yuugi exhaled.

The King simply brought their lips together in response.

 


End file.
